Pandas are an endangered species that are native to China, and their scientific name is ‘ailuropoda melanoleuca’.

Population estimates vary but there may be around 1000 pandas left living in the wild, in addition to about 127 in captivity in zoos in China, the United States, Mexico, Japan, Germany, and North Korea. Pandas used to range throughout southern and eastern China, Myanmar and north Vietnam. Now they are found only in a small part of China.

Giant pandas live in broadleaf and coniferous forests with dense bamboo growth, at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. Torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year characterises these forests, often shrouded in heavy clouds.

Giant pandas may live to be up to 30 years old in captivity and in the wild they have a lifespan of around 20 years. A giant panda cub weighs only around 150 grams (5oz) at birth. Adult males can weigh up to 150kg (330lb). Despite their size, they are good climbers.

Pandas mostly eat bamboo and can eat as much as 10kg (22lb) of bamboo a day and they have to eat a lot to stay healthy — up to 15 percent of their body weight in 12 hours!

Pandas’ teeth are designed for much crushing and chewing, so the molars are very broad and flat. To get the bamboo to their mouths, they hold the stems with their front paws, which have enlarged wrist bones that act as thumbs for gripping.

Occasionally, they eat other vegetation, fish or small animals.

Only a few species of bamboo grow at the high altitudes where pandas live today. Pandas are rather shy and shun away from places where there are people, so while giant pandas used to easily move from one mountain top to another in search of food, now they find it difficult as their habitat is inhabited by people.

As forests are being cut down and development takes place, the home of the panda is starting to shrink and once the amount of bamboo in their habitat starts to decline, these endangered creatures need to find new places with enough to fulfil their naturally large appetite. But the sad part is that they are not able to do so and are now considered as endangered species.

A wild panda spends much of its day resting, feeding and seeking food. Unlike other bears, giant pandas do not hibernate but much remains to be known about the secret lives of these elusive animals.— Compiled by The Surfer